


Justice

by captainamergirl



Category: General Hospital
Genre: Angst, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Jeese?!, Rare Characters, Rare Pairings, They coulda been hot, crack ship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:46:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23873371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainamergirl/pseuds/captainamergirl
Summary: They don't trust each other but they have to work together. Isn't that how the best relationships begin anyway? {Jason's POV on all things Reese Marshall}
Relationships: Reese Marshall/Jason Morgan





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place when Reese first came to town and Sam was a suspect in the disappearance of Michael and the other children.

_"You actually believe I could kidnap those kids, don't you? You know what, don't answer that. Your face says it all. Fuck off!"_  
  
I watched Sam go and I knew I couldn't stop her. Me - not trusting in her, believing in her or her innocence, had fractured our relationship before it really got off the ground.   
  
One minute we were engaged and the next thing I know she is going around town with some cop named Cruz. What the hell kind of a name is that anyway?  
  
I am thinking of how I have lost the one girl who I felt really understood me and my life as I slide into a seat at the bar. Coleman comes over and makes some corny joke and I just glare at him. "Get me a beer," I say in a way that lets him know that I will probably break his face if he doesn't. I am not in the mood for games; I am not in the mood to talk period.  
  
I don't have any choice though when five minutes later, Reese's sliding onto the bar stool next to me. She immediately starts asking me questions about Sam - how long have I known her, has she told me anything about how she feels about Sonny's kids, does she seem like the kind of person who would kidnap children, is she vengeful...  
  
I glare at her and she glares back. "Just answer the questions."  
  
"I didn't realize I was on trial here," I say, putting the bottle to my lips and looking at her. She crosses her long legs which are showing from the knee down. She has on a black skirt and some kind of crinkly blue top. Her long black hair is trailing down her back. Suddenly I look around and notice every guy in the joint is staring at her with lust in their eyes and at me with daggers. They're jealous I am talking to Reese. But it's not like we're having some fun conversation. She's drilling me about my ex; I am avoiding the questions because even if I am not sure Sam is innocent, I'm not going to throw her under the bus for some FBI agent. But I do want to help Michael and the others come home alive so I finally say,  
  
"She never told me much about her past really. What I know is that she's not the type to be hurtful like this."  
  
"So you think she's definitely innocent?"  
  
I look away. I want to say yes, I  _should_ say yes. I feel like I've known Sam for so long but all the evidence pointing to her ... It's overwhelming. I am trying to put my feelings aside and think clearly. If I didn't love Sam I would have gone after her with both barrels blazing to find out the truth, so in a way I've already failed Michael, Morgan and Kristina. Their parents are counting on me to bring them home and I am ignoring the obvious - ignoring what's right in front of me.  
  
I can feel the heat of Reese's stare burning a hole into me and she finally says, "You have your doubts."  
  
I don't have to reply because she knows.  
  
"Look, Mr. Morgan, you and I both want the same thing. To find out the truth - whether Sam is innocent or not. We also want to bring those kids home so I think you need to start cooperating with me. I know Sam was your girlfriend - maybe still is - but the truth is, she's my number one suspect right now."  
  
I look at Reese long and hard. "And if you're wrong ..."  
  
"Then I'll find out and we'll move on. But the trail is getting colder, Mr. Morgan. We need to find those kids before it's too late to bring them home alive."  
  
I flinch. I don't want to believe any harm will come to them. I hate the thought of it all so much.  
  
As she moves off the bar stool, I say, "We need to work together."  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"You heard me. We need to work together to find the kids. Any information I find I'll share if you share yours."  
  
Reese looks annoyed. "You're dating the prime suspect."  
  
"I was. She left."  
  
"Then you want to go after her to punish her for breaking things off..."  
  
I shake my head. Does she not get it? "No. I want to bring those kids home to their parents and I want justice. That's it."  
  
"Mr. Morgan, you are a career criminal. Your version of justice is tainted at best. Besides, if we work together, how can I be sure you will not be running to Sam with the information or using it for some twisted purpose?"  
  
"Because I care about those kids," I say, feeling a strange tightness in my throat. "They're my first priority."  
  
She studies me for a long time, seeming to try to figure out if she can trust me, and then she nods. "Alright we'll work together. Share information as it were. But I swear if you try to interfere in any way I will-"  
  
I hold up a hand. "I won't. I want those kids home more than you do."  
  
She nods. "Fine. Starting tomorrow, we're partners." Then she turns and walks off and I sit there and try to finish my beer but it does nothing to chase away the sudden discomfort I'm feeling.


	2. Chapter 2

Sam is not the kidnapper after all. I don't know why I doubted her in the first place but I did and things have only gotten worse between us. She tells me off every chance she gets but she did look upset when I told her that Michael is still missing. She had always liked Michael and I realized looking at her then that I never should have believed she could hurt kids. But how was I supposed to guess Faith Roscoe would return from the dead just to do her worst. I couldn't have predicted that; I don't think anyone could. But it doesn't make the guilt go away and it hasn't made Michael come home where he belongs. He's the son I never had and I want him home with all of us more than words can say but now that Faith's really dead this time, her secrets have gone with her.    
  
I walk into Sonny's study one day to find Reese Marshall sitting on the sofa and she's crying of all things. She always seemed so stiff and harsh and stone-faced like everyone says I am, so I'm in shock. I start to back out of the room but she looks up and sees me. She wipes away the tears, or tries to, but they keep coming. I don't know what to do. I want to leave right now but I can't. It's too late to escape.   
  
I walk back into the room and ask her why she is crying. I have to. That's what you're supposed to do in these kinds of situations, right?   
  
"It doesn't matter."   
  
"It obviously matters to you."   
  
"Are you my therapist now, Mr. Morgan?" Reese asks. "You don't seem like the type."   
  
"Jason, its Jason." I realize I have never told her she could call me by my first name but now seems like the best time to do so. Maybe she'll confide in me and I can help her somehow.   
  
"Jason, whatever, if you'll excuse me ..." She starts to walk past me but for some reason I am blocking her way suddenly.   
  
"Is this about Michael? Did you find him or -" I don't want to say,  _is he dead? Does she know if he's dead?_ I can't even wrap my mind around how horrible that would be, how much it would hurt everyone, especially Carly, who has always been there for me and I failed her by letting her children be kidnapped.   
  
"Yes. And no."   
  
"What does that mean?"   
  
"I mean I have no new information on Michael and that's what upsets me really. This is just like before..."   
  
I am confused but don't say anything. She just starts talking - rambling actually. "I had a son... His name was Jamie... My sweet Jamie... He was my world ... But he was kidnapped too... And I couldn't save him. He was murdered ... With all my skills, with all my FBI training... I couldn't save my own son. So how am I going to bring Michael, someone else's child, home?"   
  
I look at her long and hard, not knowing what to say, not at all. Words never come easy at times like this. I finally say the only thing I can think of: "I'm sorry for your loss."   
  
"You and me both," she says and wipes at more tears. "I'm sorry that I may not be able to bring home the boy you once thought of as your own... I am going to contact my superiors and ask them to assign someone else to the case."   
  
"You can't do that, Reese."   
  
"Why the hell not?"   
  
"Because I honestly believe that you care what happens to Michael. You can relate to the desperation Carly is feeling. You've been there and as much as it hurts, no one in the FBI is going to care as much as you do. Everyone else sees Michael as leverage to break down Sonny and his organization."   
  
"This isn't about Sonny. This is about Michael and ... God, I don't know if I can do this."   
  
"You can. Cause I'm still going to help you. I have to believe we will bring Michael home."   
  
"You have a lot of faith in me - someone you don't even know, someone who works on the opposite side of the law."   
  
"I'm trying to learn to trust people..."   
  
"Are you saying you trust me now?"   
  
I shrug. "Like I said, I'm trying to."   
  
Reese nods her head. "I guess I'll take that." She then wipes her face and walks back over to the sofa, yanking a stack of files out of her briefcase. "Alright let's start from the top. I want to reread every witness testimony, review every trace of evidence... We are going to bring Michael home. We have to."   
  
And I believe that she wants that. It does bother me that I couldn't trust Sam but I can trust some complete stranger who has every reason to want to destroy me and the people I care about. She works on the opposite side of the law as she said but I do trust her; I believe in her. We will find Michael if it's the last thing either of us do.


	3. Chapter 3

**Part 3**   
  
Michael was dead. We all saw the picture; we knew what had happened – or at least pieces of what had happened. But none of us wanted to believe he was gone – least of all me and his mother. I tried so hard to be there for Carly but she still believed there would be a miracle at the end of all of this and I had lost hope. I wanted to believe it was all a mistake but I couldn’t. The evidence … It overwhelmed everything. Including me.   
  
Michael was like a son to me. Hell, he  _was_ my son in all the ways that counted. Inside I felt like I was dying but I knew I couldn’t be like Sonny and just unravel on everyone. People depended on me. I had to be strong even when I felt helpless like I never had before.   
  
I am sitting in my penthouse one night a few days after the picture turned up and there’s a knock at my door. I think about ignoring it but it could be important; someone always needs me.   
  
I stand up from where I’m sitting on the couch holding a beer and move over to the door. It’s Reese. She says “Hello.” I don’t say anything; just instinctively let her inside the penthouse. She says she would ask me how I’m doing but she knows better. She knows I’m devastated. Right?   
  
I just shrug. She says, “Its okay if you grieve, Jason; if you let your guard down for a minute. You suffered an indescribable loss. No one expects you to be Superman all the time.” She nods her head. “I know – you do. You think you have to be everything to everyone. But while you’re worrying about everyone, who’s worrying about you? Not to be rude but you look like hell.”   
  
I just shrug again, intending not to say anything but then find myself asking, “Your son … How did you – how did you deal with losing him?”   
  
Pain fills her eyes and I regret saying anything but she starts talking. “You know that cliché about time healing all wounds?” I nod. “Well its absolute crap. You’re never going to stop missing the person you lost. At least I haven’t. But you can have normal moments sometimes – you can even be happy too at times. The pain never goes away but you learn to cope.”   
  
She is standing by the window, looking out at the dark with a sad expression on her face and then she turns to me. “Jason, I know its shallow comfort but you’re not alone… You also can’t be strong all the time so if you ever need someone to vent to, you can come to me. I’m willing to listen.”   
  
I don’t know if I can ever talk about how I feel about Michael’s death but I appreciate her saying all that anyway. She offers me a little smile and then walks over to me. She squeezes my arm and says, “We’ll find the guy who did this. I promise you that.”   
  
And then she’s gone and I’m alone with my miserable thoughts once again.


	4. Chapter 4

**Part 4**   
  
Michael was home. And my brother, my own flesh and blood, was the one who had taken him, who had faked his death. I had never felt such rage inside for anyone the way I did AJ. I wanted to hurt him so badly, make him beg for his life and then end it with a bullet to his sick brain. We had fought at the Quartermaine mansion and he fell from the second floor landing. Actually, we both did but I survived somehow while he had a broken back and was now lying in the ICU. So many times I’ve thought about walking in there and ending his pathetic life but something holds me back. Maybe someone.    
  
Reese came to see me the night after AJ landed in the hospital. She walked into the penthouse and she asked me pointblank not to throw my life away by murdering AJ. She clearly knew what I wanted to do but she said I would be no help to Michael if I was in prison. She looked at me with those big brown eyes of hers and said “Jason, AJ has hurt you again and again and again, I know that. But I also know better than anyone that revenge usually only hurts the person who dishes out the punishment. You would lose everything and AJ would have the ultimate revenge on you because he would die knowing you were going to prison for life or to the chair.”   
  
She then said she didn’t know me that well but she had grown to appreciate me and didn’t want to see me go down like this. Something about the way she was looking at me made me want to make a bunch of promises to her I could never possibly keep. But I did mean it when I said, “I won’t kill AJ. For Emily’s sake. But I will make sure he rots in prison for what he did.”   
  
Reese nodded. “I will too. I will testify in his case before I return to Quantico.”   
  
I hadn’t even thought about the possibility of her leaving. Maybe I hadn’t wanted to but there it was. She would be gone as soon as AJ could stand trial for his crimes. Some part of me honestly wished she wouldn’t go. Maybe all of me wished she wouldn’t go actually. Because I knew one thing: I was drawn to Reese Marshall. I hadn’t really considered she would be leaving town and I didn’t like the idea. I could ask her to stay, that’s what I wanted to do, but thus far she had given me no indication there was anything here she wanted to actually stick around for.   
  
I looked at her then, right into her eyes. “Thank you, Reese,” I said. “Thanks for helping to bring home Michael. Your … dedication didn’t go unnoticed."   
  
Reese nodded and if I wasn’t mistaken, her eyes filled with tears. She bit her lip for a moment and I knew she was thinking about the son she had lost. But all she said was, “That’s my job and I was happy to do it. Michael deserved to be home with the ones he loves. He’ll have a long road ahead of him but I really believe he’ll be close to you and his parents again some day.”   
  
Then she turned and left as she always did. And as always, I was left wanting more.


	5. Chapter 5

**Part 5**   
  
AJ was dead. Of course I was the first suspect. It seems I always was. I  _had_ wanted to kill him but I didn’t get the chance. His real killer was standing before me now with one arm wrapped around Reese’s neck and the other holding a needle full of cleaning fluid to the left side of her throat. Dr. Thomas, Michael’s own therapist, had murdered AJ. I was glad that he was gone but also knew things were never going to be the same. Especially if Reese died on my watch.   
  
“Just put down the needle,” Reese managed to say though her voice seemed to come out in a squeak because Dr. Thomas had her pinned so tightly to him.   
  
“Shut up!” The crazy doctor snapped. “If I die, you are gunna die first, bitch.”   
  
I looked at Dr. Thomas and then at Reese. Her eyes were filled with tears but I gave her credit for holding them back. She had stayed in town to find AJ’s killer and clear my name and this was all my fault. If she died ... I didn’t know what I was going to do.   
  
“Okay I will drop my gun,” I said looking at the doctor again. “Just let Reese go. Don’t do anything you’re going to regret.” I held up my hands and allowed the gun in my left one to drop to the floor.   
  
“Now kick it out of the way,” Dr. Thomas said. “Kick it out of the way! And then I want a five minute head start.”   
  
I nodded and kicked the gun as far away as I could across the linoleum of the hospital room’s floor. It landed under a gurney where I definitely couldn’t get to it right away.   
  
“Good. Good,” Dr. Thomas said and then he started over to the door, still holding tightly to Reese.   
  
“Let her go. You’re home free now,” I said, feeling anger rise up in me.   
  
“No. Forgive me if I don’t trust the local mobster when he makes a promise. Reese here - she’s my insurance policy.” Then he started dragging her towards the stairwell. “If you know what’s good for you, Morgan, you won’t follow. If you want your lady friend to survive, you’ll stay back.”   
  
I looked at Reese. I never had felt so helpless as I did right then. She blinked at me with her teary eyes. “Its okay, Jason, I’ll be okay,” she gasped out. And then she was gone with the insane doctor.   
  
XoXoXo   
  
I waited until the door to the stairwell had slammed shut and then pushed through a bunch of gawking people, dropping to my knees and grabbing my gun out from under the gurney. Within the next ten seconds, I was in the elevator. It seemed to move at the pace of a garden snail. I hated it and even kicked the wall a few times in anger.   
  
The doors finally opened on the ground floor and I slowly emerged from the hospital. I didn’t want Dr. Thomas to spot me first. I might have been willing to let him go for killing AJ but he had taken Reese and now all bets were off. Against all my wishes, this had become personal. I felt something for Reese. I didn’t want to label it; I didn’t think I even could. But she had become so much more to me in the past few months than just a partner in solving cases.   
  
I noticed Dr. Thomas then trying to force Reese into the back of a car. I noticed a man lying on the ground and knew that Thomas had knocked him out and stolen his car keys to try to make a fast getaway. I knew if Reese actually got into that car, I was never going to see her again, let alone alive.   
  
I knew I had to act and act now. I slowly held out my hand, braced my arm, and then pulled the trigger twice, silently telling myself not to miss my mark or else. I fired off the shots and in the next second, Dr. Thomas was dropping to the ground. Reese screamed and I immediately started running to her. When I reached her, I instinctively grabbed her up into my arms and then was shocked to find a spreading stain on the back of her shirt that was making my fingers all sticky. I thought it was Dr. Thomas’s blood at first but when she passed out in my arms, I knew I had done this. She had helped me out, moved heaven and earth for me, and I had cost her everything.


	6. Chapter 6

**Part 6**   
  
Somehow she survived the ricocheting bullet. She even went on to testify for me, telling her superiors who wanted to lock me up that I had been acting in her defense when I fired the gun. I stayed out of prison because of that but still felt really bad for hurting her. She told me it wasn’t a big deal. She surprised me by doing that. She was forgiving. She was understanding. She ... made me want things I knew I couldn’t have.   
  
A week had passed by since she had gotten out of the hospital and I had only seen her once when I dropped by to check on her at her hotel. She had been busy packing up her belongings and some part of me - a big part of me - wanted to ask her not to go but couldn’t find the words. We hadn’t even kissed. How could I ask her to stay for me when she didn’t even know what my lips felt like on hers? I couldn’t. She had been in Port Charles for months by then and must have wanted to get back to her old life.   
  
I was in the penthouse one night, beer in hand, when the doorbell rang. I set the bottle down on the desk and opened the door. She was standing there, dressed in a black dress and high heels and her dark hair was falling perfectly over her tiny shoulders. She had to speak first because I felt like I couldn’t catch my breath.    
  
“Can I come in?”   
  
I nodded. “Yeah. Of course.” I held the door back for her and she walked inside. The smell of her perfume following after her steps was pretty much driving me crazy. I needed something to distract me so I asked her if she wanted a beer. She said yes, but only one.   
  
I got her the beer and she took a seat on the couch. I knew she was here to say goodbye and while I didn’t like it, I wasn’t sure I could stop her. “You’re leaving,” I said.   
  
She nodded. “Yeah. My work here is done. The children are home and safe again. My life is back in Virginia.” She looked up at me then, twisting the bottle around and around in her little fingers. “I wanted to thank you-”   
  
“For what?”   
  
“You did as much work as I did to bring the kids home - probably more. You saved me from Dr. Thomas -”   
  
“You got a bullet in the back for that,” I pointed out.   
  
She smiled a little. “True, but I’m alive to see another day while Dr. Thomas is not. He can’t hurt me anymore and he can’t hurt you or anyone you love ever again.”   
  
“I’m sorry I shot you though.”   
  
Reese nodded. “I know. You’ve already apologized. And I accept your apology.” She then set her barely touched beer down on the coffee table. “I need to go. My flight back to Quantico leaves in an hour and a half.”   
  
_Ask her to stay,_ something inside of me said, but once again, I couldn’t get the words out so I just nodded. “You uh, need me to drive you to the airport?”   
  
“No. My rental car is downstairs. I feel like I’ve been driving it for so many months though, it should belong to me at this point.” She smiled then and stood up, moving to the door. I instinctively followed to let her out.   
  
I reached around her little body to open the door and she looked up at me with her big brown eyes. They looked sad. “Bye, Jason,” she said.   
  
“Bye ...”   
  
She started to turn around and walk out of the penthouse, out of my life forever, and I realized I couldn’t let her do it. I didn’t want her to. I felt something for her I hadn’t felt for anyone in a long, long time.   
  
I reached out and put my fingers lightly on her wrist. “Don’t go,” I suddenly said and the words felt more natural coming out than I would have thought possible.   
  
She turned around, not moving my hand from hers and offered me a smile. “What are you saying?”   
  
“Stay,” I said. “I want you to stay. If that’s what you want too...”   
  
“I do ...” She said and suddenly she was stepping into my arms and it all felt so right to me. I buried my face in her hair for a moment as we hugged and then she pulled back, reaching up and touching my face. Our eyes stayed steady on each other’s and then I was bringing my head down, putting my lips on hers the way I had wanted to do for sometime now. And it felt good. Better than good. It actually felt amazing.   
  
XoXoXo   
  
Later, we were on the couch together, still naked under a blanket. I could feel her soft skin still touching mine. My arm was around her tiny waist. She was quiet, too quiet, and I thought she regretted it. But its like she had heard my thoughts and said, “Jason, that was amazing.” Her fingers found mine, locking around them lightly.   
  
Then she said, “But ... There are things ... About me that you don’t know.”   
  
“There’s a lot you don’t know about me either,” I pointed out and dropped my head to kiss her earlobe, whispering into her ear, “There’s time to figure everything out.”   
  
She nodded and leaned back into me. “Yeah, of course. It’s just ... Never mind. Kiss me again.”   
  
_And I did._   
  
FINIS


End file.
